Sony PSN a more reliable revenue stream than Xbox Live

Sony has been monetizing its online gaming network at a stronger rate than its biggest competitor. That is, if you don't count the cost of Xbox Live or PlayStation Plus. We're only talking about payments for individual pieces of content, like game add-ons, full game downloads, TV shows, and movies, and other pay-per-title forms of media. More than 15% of PS3 owners have paid for a piece of digital content on their console.

Only 11% of Xbox 360 owners made a purchase decision through their Xbox 360. "Although the digital market is growing, consumers are at present choosing to engage with both physical and digital content, rather than switching from one format to the other," said Kantar Worldpanel manager Fiona Keenan. Kantar conducted a study to look at premium download behavior on game consoles in the UK. So these numbers apply to that region, though it's probably a similar case in the US.

There have been other reports to show that PS3 users are more likely to take their consoles online so this statistic shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. However, Microsoft is being incredibly bullish when it comes to entertainment content on the Xbox 360. It wants your Xbox to be everything - your cable box, your stereo, your pay-per-view set-top box, your Web browser, and your photo album.